A spider’s web, full of hand spun crafts

Have to wait

Only a few days left before we travel, and I am still packing. Of course even with the packing I am stealing a bit of time to try my new drum carder. I am surprised how easy it is to use. I have heard some people say that drum carders do not solve all wool problems, (and definitely the batt is only as good as the wool you put in), but I find it much easier than hand carders, and the Ashford Wild Drum Carder makes lovely fluffy fat batts.

Wild Carder

The wild carder has longer tines than the regular Ashford Drum Carder to make thicker batts. I took a picture to show how long they are compared to a 2 pence.

Close up of Ashford Wild Drum Carder

I have never used a drum carder before, but I think the longer tines make it harder to take the batt off. Because the batt is thick I lift it off a little bit at a time, slowly. I also found a useful tool in my Granddad’s knitting needles, that I inherited. It is a crotchet hook that has the smallest hook, (I can’t even see it and my Mom thought my Granddad may have used it to pick locks), which is perfect for picking little bits of wool or fluff off the drums.

Now my problem is that I don’t want to pack “the wild one”, I just want to play with it! And the batts are stacking up because my wheel and drop spindle are packed. Just have to wait.